07 Dec. 2017 – In a first of its kind event, the Lebanese Taekwondo Federation shone once again by honoring its champions for the 2017 season in an unprecedented ceremony.

The Award ceremony took place on the 3rd of December in Hotel Le Royal – Dbayeh and welcomed more than 1000 attendees, from parents to athletes to officials. Many prominent figures in the sports world attended the event.

The ceremony was inaugurated with the Lebanese national anthem, followed by a word from the event’s moderator, Georges Warde, in which he welcomed all attendees on behalf of Dr. Habib Zarifeh, President of the federation, and on behalf of all federation members.

He then gave the floor to Dr. Zarifeh who said that 2017 was a successful year for Lebanese taekwondo to say the least, on both the administrative and technical levels. He reiterated that the vision was clear: A medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, 2024 Paris Olympics, and 2028 LA Olympics. In his speech he said: “Our mission is to build a better community by linking taekwondo, the Olympic martial art, to education.” He then continued by thanking his colleagues and all the taekwondo family. Dr. Zarifeh talked about all accomplishments of 2017, most notably the 3 bronze medals at the World Championships, won by Laetitia Aoun, Karim El Huseini, and Raphael Koudsi. Dr. Zarifeh further described the upcoming plans of the federation, a few of which are the E-federation and the mobile app. He also happily announced that the Beirut Open will take place in September and it will be the first of its kind in 12 years.

Zayd Khiyami also spoke of the achievements of the federation followed by a word of NOC President, Jean Hammam who praised the LTF for its ceaseless efforts.

With such an event, the Lebanese Taekwondo Federation is setting the bar way too high for all other federations to reach. We hope to see others act on the spot and follow in the footsteps of the LTF.